Ricardo Montalban Theater

1615 North Vine Street,

Los Angeles,
CA92262

Great to see this theater is still operating. I worked the stage door when it was still the Huntington-Hartford Theater and later the James A. Doolittle Theater. Great plays and terrific people who came backstage to visit the performers. Visitors included Helen Hayes, Barbara Stanwyck, Natalie Wood, Walter Matthau, Jane Fonda and a very shy Tom Hanks.

The Mexico Film Festival was held May 19-25, 2011 at the Montalban and enjoyed huge attendance including several sellouts. I snared an $80 all access pass for $40 in a one-day promo on the L A Weekly website and saw nine films.

Milagro Tequila had a free drink and punch bar which I enjoyed. A number of Mexican actors and talent attended and it was refreshing to see a better dressed and younger crowd-about 95% Latino-than you see at other film festivals. The concession prices were quite reasonable: $2 for candy bars, bags of cashews, soft drinks, etc. Beer and wine were also available.

I am not Hispanic and my subpar Spanish hindered me in getting much out of the Q & As, mostly in Spanish. All films had English subtitles, except for one picture sent to the festival in error with English titles.

@Joe Vogel – Just checked it out on Google Earth and it looks like the theater was bowled at some point and replaced by a new building. I wonder what happened to the imprint of a salami on the sidewalk outside the stage entrance?

@ Joe Vogel – Thanks for that. Reading through the posts I see Sonny & Cher mentioned. I interviewed them on several occasions. Initially in the offices of “Green Stone Productions” (named for Brian Green and Charlie (?) Stone) and at their new home in the valley. But the most memorable was the night they flew out for an ultra secret flight to perform at Caroline Kennedy’s birthday at Caroline’s request. Cher had given me and my photographer the exclusive, but we had to keep it under wraps until the party was over and S&C had returned to LA. Exciting times. I’ll post a link once I’ve written up that adventure and about the night I took the Makaha Skateboard Exhibition Team for an appearance on the Steve Allen Show (and the scene about the salami imprint in the concrete outside the theater).

Hi – Does anyone know if this is the theater from which “The New Steve Allen Show” was televised from around 1962 to 1965? The theater I’m thinking of was down the street from the Hollywood Ranch Market. Many thanks, Bob

Hi all, our grandmother (97 y/o) grew up in the area. Her father-in-law was producer George Sherwood who used to produce plays there in the 20s when it was called the “Vine Street Theater”. I scanned a 1929 program cover, and a page which shows George Sherwood’s name as well. We also have a few extra programs:

My Dad grew up in this neighborhood, living in the Manson Apts on Hudson between Selma and Hollywood Blvd from ca. 1936 through the late 1940s; Hollywood High School class of 1952. Anyway, he worked in TV and radio as an engineer and program director for years. In the 1970s he was leafing through a photo history of Hollywood and came across a photo that amazed him: this view of Vine Street and there he was walking down the street with his Mother. He instantly knew it was him because he is wearing his favorite cowboy outfit (with chaps) and remembers the white dress and hat his Mother had on. Also, subtle indicators like body language and having walked down that street back then a thousand times.

Based on the tenure of the CBS Radio Playhouse I estimate the photo was taken between 1936 and April 1938, when KNX moved to Columbia Square.

Here is an interesting photo from the LAPL, although no date is given. Al Levy’s Tavern is to the right of the theater. The tavern is long gone, just a parking lot now.http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079164.jpg

Co;lumbia Broadcasting System announced sale of its CBS-Radio Theater at 1615 N. Vine Street to Huntington Hartford III, food chain heir, for a figure in excess of $200,000. It was understood that Hartford acquired the theater-scene of many radio shows since 1936-as a legitimate stage theater and theater workshop.

Formerly known as the Vine Street Theater, the house was acquired by the radio network in 1936 and was operated by the Vine Street Realty Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS.